INVESTIGATING THE ICHTHUS (FISH) CHRISTIANITY SYMBOL ON PERCEIVED SOURCE CREDIBILITY OF SERVICE PROVIDERS UNDER DIFFERENT SERVICE EVALUATION CONTEXTS Jeri Lynn Jones, [email protected] * Mahmood Shandiz, [email protected] Introduction Combining religious practices with commercial pursuits for profit is neither a novel nor an insignificant trend (Belk, Wallendorf, and Sherry 1989; McDannell 1995). Today, marketplace use of Christian symbols in secular advertising is becoming more common, especially in certain geographic locations within the United States. Christian religion-based messages and symbols regularly appear in a wide range of advertisements. The Christian elements in these ads often include Bible verses, crosses, doves, and often, the Christian fish symbol (Ichthus). Similar Christian messages are often observed in outdoor advertising, retail store signage, product packaging, and even the daily newspaper. These examples illustrate that many business owners know that Christian religious themes and symbols are very familiar to consumers. Christian symbols and messages have strong meaning within a religious context, but do these meanings transfer in market exchanges? And do these religious themes have an effect on consumers? Many marketers appear to assume so. They also seem to assume few or no potential drawbacks. Because there is little research examining consumer reactions to Christian religious symbols in the marketplace the potential value (or lack thereof) to marketers in using Christian symbols to communicate with consumers has gone largely unexamined. So while research on the presence of religious themes in the secular marketplace is not new (e.g., Belk, Wallendorf, and Sherry 1989; O’Guinn and Belk 1989), the specific impact of Christian religious symbols in advertising on consumer responses toward marketers of service offerings within the range of search, experience and credence qualities has not been adequately addressed. Consequently, the overall purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of one of the most well-known Christian religious symbols (Ichthus) in advertising on consumer evaluations of service providers —specifically, source credibility of service providers offering services considered to be high in search, experience and credence qualities. Toward this end, the research on religion and marketing is first briefly reviewed along with evangelical Christianity in the United States. Next, a discussion of consumer responses to Christian symbols in advertising within the context of services attributes (experience, credence and search qualities) is presented. Finally, the paper concludes with a discussion and suggestions for future research. Religion and Marketing Religion is a key cultural force, and marketing scholars have established the relevance of religion to the study of markets (Kale 2004; LaBarbera 1987; McKee 2003; Mittelstaedt 2002) and consumer behavior (Essoo and Dibb 2004; Hirschman 1981; Wilkes, Burnett, and Howell 1986). Within the realm of consumer behavior, research indicates that religious affiliation and religiosity level influence decision making and purchasing, with some scholars suggesting religion as a viable basis for market segmentation (Delener 1990; LaBarbera and Gurhan 1997; McDaniel and Burnett 1990; McKee 2003). Hirschman’s research (1981, 1982, 1983) established that there are significant consumer behavior differences between those of different religious affiliations relating to novelty seeking, information search, and innovativeness. LaBarbera (1987) explored the evangelical Christian subculture and concluded that evangelicals hold more favorable attitudes toward advertising than other consumers, which she indicated is counterintuitive as this group generally holds conservative moral views. Religiosity level also likely affects consumer behavior. Research suggests that less religious consumers are more likely to prefer trendy offerings and to try new products (Essoo and Dibb 2004), whereas higher religiosity consumers are generally more conservative, traditional, insightful, and disciplined (McDaniel and Burnett 1990). A Continuum of Product Attributes: Search-Experience- Credence One of the basic differences between good and services is that services are harder for customers to evaluate. One way to categorize product offerings is to place them on a continuum ranging from “easy to evaluate” to difficult to evaluate” depending on whether they are high in search attributes, experience attributes, or credence attributes. These three attribute categories provide a useful framework for understanding how consumers evaluate different types of market offerings with most goods high in search attributes and most services high in the experience and credence attributes. Search Attributes Physical goods tend to possess and emphasize attributes that allow customers to evaluate a product before purchasing. Features such as style, color, texture, size and sound allow prospective consumers to fully examine main product dimensions prior to purchase. These tangible attributes help customers understand and evaluate what they will get in exchange for their money before the purchase and thus may reduce the sense of uncertainty or risk associated with the purchase and the actual seller as well. Goods such as clothing, furniture, jewelry, mechanical equipment, and some foods are examples of offerings possessing a high degree of search attributes. As such, consumers are not likely to rely on external, unrelated product cues and symbolism to provide them with information to assess the quality of the offering and/or provider. Experience Attributes These are properties that can’t be evaluated prior to purchase. Customers must experience these features and may be able to make quality or satisfaction assessment of the purchase and provider only after they have fully experienced the product/service. For example, vacations, live entertainment performances, sporting events, and restaurants may fall into this group. Although people can examine brochures and additional promotional literature ahead of time, they can’t really evaluate or feel the essence of the product/service until they actually experience it. Nor can customers always rely on information from friends, family, or other personal sources when evaluating services possessing these characteristics. Experience attributes also suggest different people may interpret or respond to the same stimuli in different ways based on their own personal experience. As such, consumers are more likely to look for product/service cues of personal relevance to provide them with information meant to reduce risk. Credence Attributes These are properties or characteristics that customers may find impossible to evaluate confidently even after purchase and consumption has occurred. Because credence qualities are difficult to evaluate the customer is often forced to trust that certain benefits have been delivered even though it may be difficult to document them. For example, relatively few people possess enough knowledge about financial markets to assess whether their stockbroker got the best possible returns on their invested funds. Patients can’t usually evaluate how well their doctor has performed complex medical treatment procedures based on the outcome; and most college students may simply assume that their professors are providing them with a worthwhile educational experience. As such, consumers are most likely to look for product/service cues of personal relevance to provide them with information meant to reduce risk. When customers can’t accurately evaluate a service, they will form impressions of the service from whatever sources of information they have available including their own personal sources or service cues which may have nothing to do with the service whatsoever. Understanding the cues often utilized by customers to indicate the presence or absence of service quality and service provider credibility is paramount to the service provider and may afford some control over their customers’ impressions of the service. Service Quality Cue Management Parasuraman, Berry, and Zeithaml (1991) found that consumers do not evaluate service quality in a unidimensional fashion but rather as a multidimensional construct possessing five main dimensions: Reliability–ability to perform the desired service dependably and accurately. Responsiveness– willingness to help customers and provide prompt service. Assurance– employees’ knowledge and ability of the firm and its employees to inspire trust and confidence. Empathy– caring, individualized attention given to customers. Tangibles– appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel and written materials. The assurance and tangibles dimensions are likely to be more important as the service gets higher in credence attributes and lower in search attributes because the consumer is likely to perceive a higher level of risk and/or uncertainty about their ability to evaluate outcome. Trust and confidence may be embodied in the person who links the service to the customer or in the organization itself. In the early stages of a company-customer relationship, the company may use tangible items, symbols or other means of physical evidence to convey the feelings of trust and assurance. Tangibles can play an expanded role in the marketing of services particularly as the service increases in credence qualities making the service itself more tangible. In this instance, the customers rely on additional external